All persons in good health breathe through a natural airway. However, under sedation, some patients require support of their airway by the use of a device referred to as an oral airway. Oral airways are sometimes used in patients undergoing sedation by anesthesia to provide an airway from the mouth to the pharynx. The typical oral airway is made of a hard plastic, however the disadvantage of such typical oral airway is that it is uncomfortable. The use of a typical hard plastic airway is nevertheless sometimes used with intravenous sedation, during which the patient is breathing on his or her own, and does not need an endotracheal tube.
Most known oral airways, as mentioned above, are comprised of a hard plastic material throughout their length with no variation in softness. Most known oral airways comprise a hard plastic material in order to achieve their function of keeping the tongue and soft tissue of the pharynx out of the way to prevent occlusion of the airway.
The presently known hard plastic oral airways can present problems particularly when used in patients undergoing intravenous sedation, in which the patient is breathing on his or her own. For example, since the hard plastic material is uncomfortable, it can cause a gag reflex, whenever the patient is less sedated.
Due to the limitations of hard plastic oral airways, there is a need in the field for a more comfortable oral airway to provide oxygen flow or airway exchange to a patient particularly when undergoing intravenous sedation.